Jefferson City, MO (Sep. 13 2011) - Proponents of the China Hub were dealt a set back in Jefferson City, in the Missouri Legislature Special Session. Three Hundred million dollar, was stripped from a bill sponsoring tax incentives for Lambert to become a cargo hub for China.
Senators meeting in special session removed a provision in the bill that could provide as much as $300 million in incentives for building warehouse space in and near the airport. A separate incentive of $60 million to encourage freight forwards to set up shop in St. Louis remained in the bill.
The cuts were essential to get the bill through the senate and avoid a filibuster, said Senate President Pro Tem Robert Mayer, R-Dexter, who emphasized that the bill still contains a number of significant economic incentives and tax-credit reforms.
The original $360 million Aerotropolis proposal had come under attack from conservative lawmakers and political groups that criticized the program as a hand out to well-placed developers and campaign contributors. During the floor debate Tuesday, Sen. Robert Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, unsuccessfully lobbied for an amendment to have the Aerotropolis incentives shared with the Kansas City International Airport, asking why all the money was being sent to one side of the state.
"It seems to me that the marketplace could just as easily move to the western side of the state as to the eastern side of the state if it turns out to be economically feasible for one or the other," Schaaf said. "And I'm looking out for my district."
The Senate's decision to scale-back on the Aerotropolis program could cause difficulty later on in the special session if the House decides to reinstate the original funding amount. Mayer said the chambers would work through any such disagreements to get some form the economic development bill passed in the coming days or weeks.
Another major rewrite to the economic development package came in the form of another amendment from Schaaf, who sponsored a provision to retain circuit breaker tax credits which provide relief for elderly and poor Missourians. In the original version of the economic development bill, these tax credits were slated to be cancellation, affecting Missourians who rent the property in which the live. They were originally proposed for elimination to provide a funding source for other incentive programs.
"These people are just trying to survive," said Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, voicing her support for extending the circuit breaker tax breaks. "They're just trying to survive. And what I see is, this is actually a savings for the state. If you think of it in terms of whether a senior citizen needs to go to a nursing home or not, we know that as we keep our senior citizens in their households and not in an institution, the state is actually paying less."
The bill faces one more vote in the Senate, likely to occur on Wednesday, before it heads to the House of Representatives. |
